Momma Bains launched back in late November with their offering of Homestyle Punjabi Food, recipes and meals cooked by Sat Bains, his Mother, and the ‘family that is Restaurant Sat Bains’

Initially they started out selling a Chickpea Curry, tamarind chutney and samosas that are available at several chip shops, we tried that out first getting ours from the Cods Scallops in Nottingham (read more here)

We thoroughly enjoyed that meal so were excited to see a post on Instagram from MommaBains at the start of December telling us that they were trialing #Mommabains at home with the launch of 4 new curries ‘All vegetarian, all vegan, all delicious‘.

I checked out the Mommabains website and placed an order straight away, just to ‘be amongst the first’ to try them.

Over the next few weeks we tried them all out at home, adding in a few bits and pieces as we did. So here is what we got up to eating wise 🙂

Aloo Gobi, Aubergine Sabji, Mung bean dahl, and a Lentil dhal

The first four curries were ‘Aloo Gobi, Aubergine Sabji, Mung bean dahl, and a Lentil dhal

Described simply as

aloo gobi – “A classic spiced mix of potatoes and cauliflower”

aubergine sabji – “A base of both fried aubergine and potatoes“

mung bean dahl – “Fragrant and packed with protein”

lentil dahl – “Rich and Intense, a Punjabi Staple“

When you looked at the ingredients listed on the back of each sachet of curry you could see that it was all fresh stuff and nothing artificial added. A common theme in the base ingredients were ‘onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli, coriander, salt and tumeric’

Yet when you taste each one, it really is amazing how just the addition of a few extra bits and bobs can make such a difference to the overall flavor making each one quite unique

Aubergine Curry and the Mung Bean Dahl

The first meal we ate from the Mommabains selection box used the Aubergine Curry and the Mung Bean Dahl

The notes with the box suggested that all you needed to make the meal complete, was to add rice and a naan, so we took a trip over to Royal in Hyson Green which is one of our favorite places to pick up some Indian snacks. We ended up with “Three freshly cooked naan breads, a couple of lamb samosa, and a bag of pakora” so we probably overdid it a bit 🙂

The Aubergine curry surprised me as I am not usually much of a fan of this vegetable as I often found it a bit slippery like when you get it in a moussaka.

Today though I changed my mind as the way it was cooked in the dish was different both in texture and in taste.

It was sweet, tangy and a bit crunchy, three things that I like. The dish also had tomato and potato in it which made it more chunkier than some of the dahls we were to eat.

The Mung Bean curry was surprisingly spicy yet in a good way! It was not a straight kick of heat but rather one of those that slowly builds up as you eat it.

Garlic, Ginger, Green Chili and Coriander were the main tastes we were picking out from each mouthful. This is a really good curry to mop up with a bit of naan bread!

I liked it and it was another curry that I might not have tried if it wasn’t for Mommabains adding it to the selection box so I was glad that they did.

Aloo gobi and Lentil dhal

In the next meal we ate we checked out the Aloo gobi and the Lentil dahl (red lentil curry)

The Lentil Dahl was quite creamy and thick texture wise, and just like that Mung bean dahl it was quite gently flavored. The back of the sachet said that was a Red Lentil curry which surprised me as the dish was colored yellow?

First thoughts were that it was the other ingredients but then I read that they turn yellow when you cook them! I feel I should have known that 🙂

The Cauliflower Curry or Aloo Gobi was mostly Cauliflower and Potato that was mixed with the onion, chopped tomato, garlic, ginger, coriander, green chilli, and tumeric.

Like the Aubergine curry this was quite a chunkier texture and curry and another one that I really liked a lot.

We learned our lesson from the last meal where we over did it with extras so today we just added rice and a couple of onion bhaji from Gar Kha Khana that we picked up at the local food market in Radcliffe on Trent as well as a jar of their excellent mango chutney.

CHICKPEA CURRY AND LAMB KEEMA

That first selection box from Mommabains had been so goddam tasty that we just had to place another order! So when they released the next batch of curries ready for NYE that included a Lamb Keema, and the Chickpea Curry it was a no brainer and we did just that.

These two new options were described just as simply as

sholay – “A tomato based chickpea curry“

lamb keema – “Spiced mince lamb with peas“

I read that Sat had persuaded his Mum to cook up some of her Lamb Keema recipe even though these days she has gone Vegetarian and I was really glad that he did

Sholay and Lamb Keema

Now I know that really in the spirit of things all vegan I should not admit or state that the Lamb Keema is my favorite of all the six different curries that we have tried so far. However it was, so there you go 🙂

It was quite a bit thicker that I expected, in fact a mate commented that it looked different from some of the more runny gravy keema that you sometimes get from a takeaway. I did add a bit of water to loosen the mixture and make it less paste like but I dont think I really needed to.

There was a nice harmony with each mouthful as the spicing of the lamb mince was very gentle and light. It would be a great mixture inside a lamb samosa and also in a pasty as well lol. It was a really great addition to the list of curries that Mommabains has offered so far!

The Chickpea curry that we had in the second selection box and in the chippy was an equal though and together they were a winning combination. At a push I could have squeezed a third curry onto the plate to make a super trio and if I did I think that would have to be the Aubergine curry

All in all I really have enjoyed eating these Punjabi homestyle curries and even though I am not Vegan or Vegetarian that has not made any difference, they were all so tasty you didn’t really worry about whether they had meat in or not

The first time that we had the samosas from the chippy we were a little disapointed as they did not seem very big. The next time though we got them hot from Sat Bains when we picked up our selection boxes and they were fantastic. Maybe it was our imagination but these ones seemed much bigger and were cooked a lot better. It could be that we got 4 of them as well so we got much more samosa joy.

Anyway I am converted now to ordering them if I have the chance, and if you did not already know Mommabains has its own wagon now which they are selling them from out and about in Nottingham

So far I know that they have set themselves up at Wollaton Park on a couple of weekends and I am sure that as things get better out there we will see them at more events around the place.

Now to get your hands on the different curries in the selection boxes keep an eye on the Mommabains website and on Instagram where they seem to be announcing each release.

They are not that cheap at £38 for 4 curries in 250g bags, but each time we have ordered a box it has made two meals for two people so I think that is pretty good value actually and way way better than the stuff you might get from a takeaway.

You also get to meet Sat Bains and his Mum the real life Mommabains as well if you collect in person from RBS down at Lenton. Well unless Sat has been sent back into the kitchen to get more hot samosa’s from one of his family, but that is how families work aint it lol.